Volochaevka, Battle of 1922

a battle from February 5 to February 14 in the vicinity of Volochaevka rail-road station on the Amur railroad on the approaches to Khabarovsk. This battle was one of the last operations of the People’s Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Far Eastern Republic for the liberation of Primor’e. In late 1921, General Molchanov’s White Guards forces launched an offensive from Primor’e to the north, and on December 22 they seized Khabarovsk and advanced westward to Volochaevka. After a defeat near the In railroad station, the White Guards forces (4,500 men, 63 machine guns, 12 guns, and three armored trains) passed to the defensive along a line from Volochaevka to Verkhnespasskaia, creating a well-fortified region along an 18-km front. Units of the NRA under the command of V. K. Bliukher (7,600 men, 300 machine guns, 30 guns, three armored trains, and two tanks) passed to the offensive on February 5, and on February 10 they began storming the Volochaevka positions. For three days, in deep snow, and at temperatures of-35° C, the poorly uniformed NRA troops uninterruptedly attacked the enemy. The Whites’ defenses were broken on February 12 after one regiment of the NRA gained the enemy’s rear. On February 14 the NRA occupied Khabarovsk.